Gardner Earl Memorial Chapel, Oakwood Cemetery, Troy, NY

This particular photograph is of the Gardner Earl Memorial Chapel and Crematorium at the entrance of the cemetery.

Hannah and William S. Earl were prominent business owners of Earl and Wilson, a national collar manufacturing firm.

Their only child, son Gardner Earl, born in 1850, was apparently sickly from an early age. He was well enough to do the Grand Tour in Europe in the early 1880’s. He was impressed with the cremation methods used in Italy, and when he came home wrote out a legal document stating his wish to be cremated (which was not common at that time.) When he died in March, 1887, his parents took his body to Buffalo by train to be cremated, since there was no crematory in eastern New York.

On their return, they made the decision to fund the building of the Earl Chapel and Crematory as a memorial to their only child. Albert Fuller, a well-known architect in Albany, was hired in September, 1887,to design the chapel. He had already served Oakwood as the designer of the Lower Gatehouse. By April ,1988, the bids had been let and construction had begun. The Earls gave Fuller a free hand, money was apparently not an object. Fuller was asked to make the building the most modern, most beautiful, and most enduringly strong crematory in the world. The chapel itself is filled with 8 Tiffany stained-glass windows(from early in Louis Comfort Tiffany’s career) marble mosaics on the floor of the altar, and onyx and marble from all over the world in the wainscoting, and the rear and front altars. The ceilings and pews are all hand-carved quarter-sawn oak.

In the room to the left of the altar was the original crematory, with 2 retorts fired by a wood-burning furnace in the basement. The building was basically complete in late 1889, and the first cremation was early in January, 1890. But some time before 1905, the man in charge of the building had invented a kerosene-fired system. Since the Earls were still alive, they built a seamless addition of Westerly granite to match the rest of the building, moved the retorts into the addition, and began the beautification of the room to the left of the altar. The roof was raised, a tray ceiling installed and covered in marble mosaics, the 2 windows on the west and south enlarged to hold large Maitland Armstrong stained-glass windows, the 2 north windows enlarged and fitted with custom bronze doors leading to the 2 retorts. The walls of the "gorgeous" room were covered with Siena marble from Italy, and the lower walls covered in marble mosaics.

The building is "Richardsonian Romanesque",with Roman arches and a heavy, rooted-to-the-earth feeling. Please see the "Virtual Tour" of this building in the left-hand menu bar.

In 1969 a small concrete-block addition was added to the northwest corner of the basement, and 2 new gas-fired retorts were placed. There apparently were difficulties with its placement, and so in the 1970’s a new plain concrete-block free-standing building was built about 50’ to the north. The 2 gas-fired retorts are there and in constant use. Oakwood does about 375-400 cremations a year.

In about 1904, the original black slate roof was replaced by a copper one, which by 1995 had begun to fail and leak into the rich interior of the chapel. The Oakwood Board of Trustees spent six years raising money to replace the roof, through much grant-writing and generous donations from lot owners and concerned citizens and foundations. The work on the new black slate roof was begun in July, 2006, after public bids were opened. The architects are the nationally-known preservation architectural firm of Mesick, Cohen, Wilson, and Baker, LLP of Albany. It is expected that the work will be finished by late spring, 2007.

This particular photograph is of the Gardner Earl Memorial Chapel and Crematorium at the entrance of the cemetery.

Hannah and William S. Earl were prominent business owners of Earl and Wilson, a national collar manufacturing firm.

Their only child, son Gardner Earl, born in 1850, was apparently sickly from an early age. He was well enough to do the Grand Tour in Europe in the early 1880’s. He was impressed with the cremation methods used in Italy, and when he came home wrote out a legal document stating his wish to be cremated (which was not common at that time.) When he died in March, 1887, his parents took his body to Buffalo by train to be cremated, since there was no crematory in eastern New York.

On their return, they made the decision to fund the building of the Earl Chapel and Crematory as a memorial to their only child. Albert Fuller, a well-known architect in Albany, was hired in September, 1887,to design the chapel. He had already served Oakwood as the designer of the Lower Gatehouse. By April ,1988, the bids had been let and construction had begun. The Earls gave Fuller a free hand, money was apparently not an object. Fuller was asked to make the building the most modern, most beautiful, and most enduringly strong crematory in the world. The chapel itself is filled with 8 Tiffany stained-glass windows(from early in Louis Comfort Tiffany’s career) marble mosaics on the floor of the altar, and onyx and marble from all over the world in the wainscoting, and the rear and front altars. The ceilings and pews are all hand-carved quarter-sawn oak.

In the room to the left of the altar was the original crematory, with 2 retorts fired by a wood-burning furnace in the basement. The building was basically complete in late 1889, and the first cremation was early in January, 1890. But some time before 1905, the man in charge of the building had invented a kerosene-fired system. Since the Earls were still alive, they built a seamless addition of Westerly granite to match the rest of the building, moved the retorts into the addition, and began the beautification of the room to the left of the altar. The roof was raised, a tray ceiling installed and covered in marble mosaics, the 2 windows on the west and south enlarged to hold large Maitland Armstrong stained-glass windows, the 2 north windows enlarged and fitted with custom bronze doors leading to the 2 retorts. The walls of the "gorgeous" room were covered with Siena marble from Italy, and the lower walls covered in marble mosaics.

The building is "Richardsonian Romanesque",with Roman arches and a heavy, rooted-to-the-earth feeling. Please see the "Virtual Tour" of this building in the left-hand menu bar.

In 1969 a small concrete-block addition was added to the northwest corner of the basement, and 2 new gas-fired retorts were placed. There apparently were difficulties with its placement, and so in the 1970’s a new plain concrete-block free-standing building was built about 50’ to the north. The 2 gas-fired retorts are there and in constant use. Oakwood does about 375-400 cremations a year.

In about 1904, the original black slate roof was replaced by a copper one, which by 1995 had begun to fail and leak into the rich interior of the chapel. The Oakwood Board of Trustees spent six years raising money to replace the roof, through much grant-writing and generous donations from lot owners and concerned citizens and foundations. The work on the new black slate roof was begun in July, 2006, after public bids were opened. The architects are the nationally-known preservation architectural firm of Mesick, Cohen, Wilson, and Baker, LLP of Albany. It is expected that the work will be finished by late spring, 2007.
Rating: 4.1